Projects Bird in a Box..or usin a thunderbird as a parts car for a shoebox

Believe me I'm a cheap date in the grand scheme.

 

Awesome!!

Ian

 

Great build i cant wait to see the outcome.

 

not to much to post,fighting with the damn dash and console all day trying not to break anything while taking it apart.. but getting there..some picts with all the seats and console sitting in it

 

got all the rug out, and got a good look at the driveshaft tunnel and seat pans..they al llook great.. just the front floor pans were rotted out.. so I;m thinking I will cut out everything, the tunnel,the seat pan and rear seat pan, even the back of rear seat mounting area.cut it down to fit the 50 then get some sheet steel and use that for the floor pan..I'm going to have to raise it since the tbird is a unibody and the pans for your feet are lowerbut figured if I come down about 1 inch from the top of section the seat s bolt I should be good. This way the seat will seat 1 inch higher and still give my about 2 or 3 inches of head clearance. Figured also with the tbird tunnel it will be big enough for the 390 trans and bring the console up higher to the dash.. I'm still debating on using the tbird dash.. but man thats one pain in the *** to get out..

 

anyone know if the 64 thunderbird would have the same bolt pattern as a 50 ford?

 

It should I put 69 Mustang rims on my old 51 Ford. Should all be 5 x 4.5"

 

looks like a good start

 

its gonna be cool

 

Complete.....
http://www.hptrends.com/

 

Not necessarily.

When I swapped my flathead 6 for an SBC in my '49 the front end went up about an inch. We have a 390 for my sisters car. We weighed the long block at 401 lbs. We weighed a flathead v8 too that was fully loaded and I think it was 6 hundered and something.

now I'm not srue if there were thinwall 390s and older versions are heavier, but even so, the original engines that came in shoeboxes were not light.

 

Thanks guys for all the great input.. and man that tri power set up is beautttttttiful

 

cool

 

Nice plan Pipes. Looks like your on to something. That dash is one of my favorites.
When I was a kid, Perry's mom had one of those, and she would get out of that car.......

 

Right now as it sits,the crossmember is 2-1/2 inches off the ground. was told it had MG springs in it..the rear has 4 inch blocks.hell there isnt even room under the car for sidepipes..Im planning maybe 3 inch block from back,replace the front coils with either the tbirds,or try the areostar coils deal. not planning to go crazy with the 390,maybe a mild cam with a tri power..I figured that would give me plenty of go fast if I wanted it.. I'm also going to narrow the 9 inch rear of the tbird to fit in the 50.. not excessive.. but enough to put decent tread on it to hold it to the pavement..so hopefully all that will take care of the bigblock and I wont have any sparks shooting out as I drive.. My goal is to get the car done by the rumbler show next year..hopefully in paint as well....guess I better go outside and turn a few wrenches now..

 

anyone know where I can find any info on putting the 390 in a shoebox? as far as oil pan, if I need to cut the firewall or crossmember and so on?..I'm sure Id figure it out sooner or later, but I like to have a heads up with dos and donts before I start cutting..

 

used 3x2 setup $1200-$2000 at a swap then you have to rebuild the carbs make sure it has the linkage.
bolt pattern the same for the 50 and the bird,
that year tbird seats are not the most comfortable, go for newer supercoup seats electric or bmw coupe seats all mechanical 6 ways
Doubt if you will be able to use the front springs the a frame has the springs on top and they are way long.
might have to go with a rear sump kit on the 390 to fit the 50

 

yeah, been looking around and seeing the prices on the intakes.. I'll keep looking as its not something I need right now,and you never know when a great deal will pop up when you least expect it. As of now I plan on using extra cash for body metal,though though I did spend a bit this past week on a pretty good deal I couldnt p*** up. picked up a lincoln 110 mig complete with bottle,cart and few other bits for 300 bucks. Mig is like brand new, still has a full spool in it, doubt it was used 3 times. Bought it off a guy whos father p***ed away and now had to clean out the shop.
As far as the seats, well,I am going to stick with the 64 tbrd seats, cant bring myself to newer SC seats let alone BMW seats in it..I'm drawing the limit to 64,because thats what I got, and I think the seats I got now will look pretty custom with some new skins on em. The newer **** jst doesnt do it for me. And hell if I wanted comfortable, I wouldnt be fixing up a choptop where I will be leaning forward to see what color the light is all the time!
The springs, well I already know whats in there is getting tossed out, will see whats what when I get the rest of the tbird apart and the front end of the shoebox off. was bouncing the idea of stuffing bags in it, but thats new territory for me.. and not really sure how the whole thing gets set up or works, so thats still up in the air..
rear sump pan is something I figured I'd need from day one. I dont want this engine sitting so high up,just to clear the crossmember,then have the ****** end and driveshaft above the floor pans.. I've been looking for one out of a late 60s 4x4 ford truck, but so far all I can find is dented up ones, Moroso, and cantan makes em.. anywhere from 350 to 380 or something, so looks like if I have to Ill go that route.. good thing about that is that the pan is gold will match nicely with the gold valve covers!..ha..
Family things have been keeping me limited to time I have from getting much done, that and trying to find a garage close enough to rent or borrow, at least long enough for me to mock up the 390 in the 50 and make sure everything is leveled for that and floors.might have a lead on a garage but not till the end of oct or beginning of november.. so as it is now, I'm still wrenching away in the yard, when ever I get a chance. Today if it doesnt ran I'm yanking out the flathead and trans..ifal lgoes well some updated pics later

 

well here a small update..todays effort to yank out the flathead..
no garage so redneck engineering here in the driveway.. towing it up to work on it

had to get a pic of me sitting in it for the hell of it..

My buddy saying hello..or is he telling me that I'm number 1..hmm


hoodless..last time to open the hood up and see as flattie..

ok this is horrible.. who the hell painted the engine compartment pink!



while the car was up I looked over the frame.. found a few spots where there were hole rusted through.. starting to think the body will be getting taken off so the frame can be stripped and repaired and painted. as far as the 390.. man...that it a huge difference.. and going to be one hell of a tight fit.. it almost goes to both inner fenders just be rough measurements.. and it looks like half the firewall may be trimmed.. ah well.. only one way to find out.. lower cut lower until engine is in place..
hopefully will find out that real soon.

 

anyone have a big shoehorn? looks like I'll be stocking up in grinding wheels to get the 390 in it. anyone know if they sell fe block hugger headers?

 

The more I look at the shape of the roof the more I like the car. I think using the whole interior w/be a cool mod. Good luck.

Yea...not crazy about the pink either.

 

thanks.. yeah the pink has got to go.. of curse I may end up cutting half the firewall out to get the 390 in..so it will get a new coat of some sorta paint other then pink!

 

Sanderson sells block huggers for 390. Love the box

 

thanks!

 

Just love this kind of basic hot-rodding. The 50 looks to be a perfect home for all of the 'bird parts. Keep us posted.

.

 

so, where are you now on this project?

 

Good Luck with the project.
I think you have a nice chop there.
I had a 390 in a 52 Ford.
I remember having trouble with headers and ended up using truck manifolds to fit.



I hate when I respond to a post that's 2 years old only to notice after hitting the reply ****on.

 

Has the makings of a great custom , keep at it ...

 

It was in the cl***ifieds ages ago....I am sure its long been sold....

 

chris pazsik owns this now. (unionvillehaunt)